Maintenance Testing

A common mission statement for our
industry would probably be something
like "We provide on-time, clean, safe and
friendly service to our customers and
the communities that we service." That
simple statement is the reason for our
existence. However, from a maintenance
point of view, that means providing maximum
equipment availability to meet the
scheduled and unscheduled demands for
service. Moreover, it also means that the
maintenance of the equipment has to be
as economical and efficient as possible
in order to provide the maximum vehicle
and component life.

In maintenance, we tend to measure
our return on invested fare and tax dollars
in costs per mile, mean miles between
road calls, miles per gallon, etc. How do
we measure our investment or value for
the mechanics that we employ and train
to perform the various maintenance functions?
Generally speaking, each mechanic
is both a cost and savings center.

As a rule, the key to an efficient and effective
maintenance department, in part,
is having qualified mechanics to perform
the various maintenance tasks. This is not
always easily accomplished. The external
job market is unable to provide our industry
with individuals that possess the required
skills and competencies. However,
there are a few human resource managers
that are under the impression that training
and maintenance departments should be
able to develop and train any individual for
a career as a transit mechanic.

For the most part, those of us in training
know this is not true. Hence, our industry
has adopted the "Grow Our Own"
philosophy. "Grow Our Own" simply means
shaping an individual to meet our expectations.
Many transit properties have done
a good job of training and qualifying the
maintenance workforce to meet the maintenance
demands of the transit business.
Yet, how good is good when it comes down
to measuring the skills and competencies
of a transit mechanic? What is their value
to cost ratio?

Nevertheless, technology is changing
our industry at a tremendous rate. It is also
changing and enhancing the skills and competencies
of our transit mechanics. How
do we measure as well as recognize their
exceptional skills and competencies? How
do we qualify and compare their skills in
relation to other industries? As mentioned
above, how do we substantiate the investment
made in a career?

In short, one way to accomplish,
substantiate or recognize the skills and
competencies of our transit maintenance
employees is to certify their skills and
competencies. In doing so, certification
becomes a credential that everyone
seeks. For example, doctors, lawyers,
paramedics and other occupations require
a certification that provides credentials for
an individual to perform in that certified
occupation. It recognizes the knowledge,
skills, competencies, abilities and initiative
that an individual has to exhibit in
order to earn the status and credential
of the occupation. Why should our transit
mechanics have anything less?

Transit moves the most people, next
to the personal automobile. That is a big
responsibility for our industry. Safety, dependability,
security and comfort are essential
to our customers.

In late October of 2003, a recommendation
was forwarded to the TCRP
Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS)
Committee to fund the TCRP Project E-6,
Transit Bus Mechanics: Building for Success
- The ASE Transit Bus Maintenance
Certification Test Series. Project E-6 was
a long time in coming. The first problem
statement recognized the need for a national
transit mechanics certification and
was submitted in 1994.

The Institute for Automotive Service
Excellence, commonly known as ASE, is
an independent, non-profit organization
that facilitates industry-related certification
tests. ASE was first organized in the
early 1970s as an unbiased organization
that would recognize and certify automobile
mechanics. This was done by the automotive
industry as a way of policing their
industry in lieu of government national
mechanic certification. The government
became involved as a result of public
outcry due to automobile repairs being
performed by incompetent individuals.

ASE has a partnership in the certification process. That partnership is connected
with the American College Testing
Program (ACT). ACT is an independent,
not-for-profit organization that provides
more than a hundred assessment, research,
information and program management
services in the broad areas of
education and workforce development.
In 2002, ACT officially acknowledged its
growing role in supporting both education
and the workforce. Though designed to
meet a wide array of needs, all ACT programs
and services have one guiding purpose
and that is to help people achieve
education and workplace success.

In March of 2004, a 20-member panel
consisting of both transit labor and management
met for the first time in regards to the
TCRP Project E-6, Transit Bus Mechanics:
Building for Success - The ASE Transit
Bus Maintenance Certification Test Series.
The purpose of the committee was to oversee
the development and implementation
of the ASE Transit Bus Certification Tests.
Much has transpired since that day in March
2004. A series of meetings was conducted,
using Subject Matter Experts (SME) from
various transit authorities to establish related
work tasks in relationship to the following
ASE Transit Test Areas:

*Transit Bus Electrical/Electronics

*Transit Bus Brake Systems

*Transit Bus HVAC
Transit Bus Diesel Engines

*Transit Bus – L2, Electronic Diesel
Engine Diagnosis Specialist

*Transit Bus Steering and Suspension

*Transit Bus Transmission and Drive
Train

*Transit Bus Preventive Maintenance
Inspection (PMI)

There have been, and will continue
to be, subsequent meetings of SMEs
in order to develop the questions that
will be used in the Transit Bus Series
Certification Tests. As a result of these
question development workshops, in
May of 2006, the first ever ASE Transit
Bus Certification Tests made their debut.
Transit Bus Brakes and Transit Bus Electronics/
Electrical were the first two tests
debuted because of their importance to
our industry. Approximately 700 mechanics/
technicians registered for the brake
test and approximately 600 registered for
the electrical/electronics tests. In June
of 2006, a working group of experts met
to establish the passing scores for each
of the tests. As a result, approximately
400 and approximately 350 respectively,
received their certifications in each of
the areas.

In November of 2006, both the transit
Bus Brake and Electrical/Electronic tests
will be offered again. In May of 2007, the
Transit Bus HVAC, Diesel Engines and L2
Diesel Engine Electronic Diagnosis Specialist
Tests will make their debut. With
five tests soon to be done, the evaluation
of what number of tests will constitute
the achievement of Master Transit Bus
Technician, ibelieve it's time to ask the
question: What does the ASE Transit Bus
Technician Credential mean and how
does it affect our industry?

In attempting to answer that question,
we must consider what has occurred or
been accomplished so far as a result of
the ASE test development:

The ASE Test Series is supported by
the two major transit unions; both the
Amalgamated Transit Union and Transit
Worker Union Internationals support the
ASE Tests and Certification Process.
However, they both have concerns. Their
main concerns include that sufficient
training, as well as training resources, be
made available to provide individuals the
opportunity to pass the ASE test series
and that the results of the tests be used
in a positive, not a negative manner.

The unions are equal partners in the
development of not only the tests, but
the training material as well. As indicated
previously, the TCRP Project E-6 oversight
committee is a joint union/management
committee. Many of the SMEs used to identify
the tasks and write the questions were
union members. Bob Hykaway, ATU International
vice president, serves as the co-chair
along with Union vice-co chairpersons on
the various committees of the APTA Bus
Maintenance Training Standards Working
Group. Union SMEs were involved in the
development of study guides for the ASE
Transit Test Series which were published by
Delmar Publishing.

In regards to training and training resources,
there continues to be significant
progress in the following:

*Training Standards – APTA has recognized
the need to establish training
standards for our industry. As a result,
the APTA Bus Maintenance Training Standards
Working Group has been formed
to establish and recommend curriculum
standards to benefit the training of our
incumbent employees as well as perspective
new employees. This process
includes identifying transit specific standard
work tasks and identifying the related
training curriculum for those tasks. As
part of the "Grow Our Own Process" we
have to establish the criteria for transit
specific skills and competencies for technical
training institutions and colleges if
they wish to be able to provide individuals
with the necessary qualifications for our
industry. Incumbent workers' skills must
be enhanced as technology changes.
The objective of the Bus Maintenance
Training Standards Working Group is to
establish and recommend training standards
that, in a way, exceed the training
required to pass the ASE test. The
recommendations and or standards will
be set to exceed the requirements of
the ASE tests. The reason is clear; in
order to have everyone properly trained,
the level of training must go beyond your
highest credential. Having industry training
standards in place will prevent our
industry from constantly re-inventing the
training wheel. It will provide a valuable
resource to smaller properties that may
not have a training department.

Training Resources – Delmar Publishing
had shown a significant interest in
publishing the ASE Transit Series Study
Guides. We had requested from Delmar
that we would like, if possible, to have
transit individuals author, review and critique
our study guides. The credential in
the study guide is that it would be written
by transit maintenance professionals to
be used by transit maintenance professionals.
Work will continue to constantly
provide the training resources required
for transit employees to obtain the highest
level of skills and competencies
needed for our industry.

As part of the training resources,
through an initiative by the National
Transit Institute (NTI), a program was
developed to enhance the instructional
skills of bus maintenance instructors
in relationship to the ASE test learning
process and the need to address the
learning techniques as they apply to
adult learners. The Training and Coaching
Skills for Bus Maintenance Instructors:
Preparing for ASE Certification is
another step toward improving learning
skills by establishing industry standards
or recommendations in order to provide
a better opportunity for success.

The important question is: How will the
ASE credential be used? First, our industry
has to accept and embrace it as both the
standard as well as the credential of our
industry. iwould just like to remind everyone
that the ASE tests are not tests that
anyone can pass as the process of question
relevancy to challenging and recognizing
skills and competencies is continual.
Part of the scoring process requires that
the questions identify and meet the standards
required for certification of skills
and competencies. Neither easy, nor hard
questions are relevant to establishing
skills and competencies or a credential.
Keep in mind that both the process and
organization are the same, whether it be
in certifying a transit mechanic or your personal
physician or lawyer.

Some transit properties have suggested
using the ASE test questions
to hire new employees. Since it is rare
now to find qualified employees to meet
our minimum hiring requirements, it will
also be rare to find an individual from
the external labor market to pass our
industry's highest credential on initial
hire. Again, it is a credential that identifies our "Top Guns" when it comes to
transit maintenance. It will serve as our
standard of recognition. You want to use
the credential wisely.

Instead of a hiring tool, it should be
used as a promotional or incentive tool.
Again, training will be important in order for
the individual to acquire the credential. Just
having an employee take the test, without
preparation, is just preparing an employee
to fail and the value of the credential to
be lost. The fact that the ASE process requires
recertification every five years should
be a point of consideration for some type
of wage premium or incentive. The use of
a wage premium or incentive would be a
better motivator for success than threatening
loss of job for failure to pass the test.
Remember that old adage about attracting
more flies with honey than vinegar?

The certification credential, whether
it be ASE or in-house, does place the
need for enhanced training to the forefront.
However, it also places a new responsibility
on the individual. Nothing is
automatic; a certain amount of personal
initiative and motivation are required.
The individual must be willing to accept
the responsibility and accountability of
the credential, and in doing so it may be
another reason to substantiate a wage
premium or incentive.

On a different note, the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration has established
regulations regarding vehicle maintenance
which are addressed in CFR 49,
Parts 393/396. Section 396.17, identifies the qualifications of a vehicle inspector.
The ASE Preventive Maintenance Inspection
test should address and satisfy
the requirement of this section.

Several other agencies such as the
Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance have
adopted and implemented standards for
vehicle inspection. The North American
Standard Out-of-Service Criteria and
North American Vehicle Inspection Standard
relate vehicle maintenance procedures
directly to safety. The FTA Transit
Bus Safety Program, Task 3 - Development
of a Model Transit Bus Safety Program
identifies some specific procedures
and tasks in transit vehicle maintenance
that are directly related to safety. These
vehicle areas or systems are identified
on pages 13 and 14 of the document.
The FTA Transit Bus Safety Program, Task
2 - Regulations and Oversight, Section
III, Findings and Recommendations, identify
the following areas as contributing to
improving transit safety:

Employment Practices

Vehicle Inspection Procedures

Preventive Maintenance Procedures

To further refine and enhance on the
above, in that same section, the California
Transit Insurance Pool (Caltip) has identifi
ed 18 critical areas of safety. Of the 18,
the following applied to maintenance, specifi
cally to mechanic qualification:

Mechanic Employment

Mechanic Selection

Mechanic Training

Mechanic Re-Training

Mechanic Evaluation

Vehicle Inspection

Vehicle Maintenance

In addition, the Transit Mutual Insurance
Corporation of Wisconsin (TMi) has
indicated that a safety manual be developed
and the topics for the manual under
the maintenance section should address
the following areas within maintenance:

a. vehicle

b. facility

c. training

d. evaluations

e. incentives

So with all of that said, the National
ASE Transit Bus Certification Test Credential
and the resulting development of training
standards for bus maintenance may
have more of an industry outreach than
just mechanic certification.

The ASE Transit Credential is here
and the industry should use it wisely.
Use it as a positive tool to recognize
the diverse level of qualification, skills
and competencies that transit mechanics
must possess. In doing so we will
be attaining our objective/mission,
as well as boosting public confidence
in the safety, security and reliability
that transit offers and that the public
expects. In regards to transit vehicle
maintenance labor, we will be able to
show our customers that they are getting
the highest return for their invested
tax and fare dollars.